The Other One
by kdandsheela
Summary: <html><head></head>Masquerade has sent all of Joe's bakugan, except Wyvern, to their doom. Now Joe is willing to do almost anything to get back at Masquerade. He even asks Wyvern for a small part of the infinity core! Will this forever change Joe and Masquerade? Find out! 3</html>
1. Hate at First Sight

"How could anyone justify what he just did?" an upset boy opened his bedroom door in a rather violent way.

"Joe…please you are not acting like yourself." a small white and pink ball called out from his shoulder.

Joe turned to his head to Wyvern, "It doesn't matter how I act…it's still not going to change the fact that all my other bakugan are now in the doom dimension…I've failed my own bakugan…"

Wyvern looked sternly at Joe, "Joe, listen to me, you did not fail _anyone_ and by acting as if it's hopeless you are only failing yourself." She said this as Joe sat on the edge of his bed in the dark room, the moonlight coming from the window seeming to seep the life out of the objects around it.

Joe chuckled a dark, desperate, dry chuckle, "That's right…I am failing myself, because it _is_ hopeless." Joe lowered his and covered his face with his hands. "It's as if he's already won…Naga, I mean. He has the number one brawler on his side and Masquerade just helps him become stronger. It's as if Masquerade has no weakness, he's invincible. And as for you Wyvern…you're stuck with me—"

"Don't say that!" Wyvern said, really to deny anything he was about to say.

"Why not? It's true, isn't it?" Joe said with honesty in his voice.

"Joe!" Wyvern gasped as if Joe done something done something naughty, "I don't ever want to hear you say that! I'm clearly here by choice…I'm not 'stuck' with anyone! There is no other brawler out there that I'd rather be with then you."

Joe looked up at Wyvern but remained silent from this confession, flattered by Wyvern's honestly but he continued trying to find some way to insult himself. He wasn't going to allow himself to feel any better.

"Joe?" Wyvern asked, concern once again for Joe's self-esteem.

"Just…how is it that the worst bad guy here found the best brawler on earth?" Joe asked, curious to why anyone would want to work for Naga anyway.

It was Wyvern this time that played the silent game.

"Wyvern?" Joe asked, thinking that she was silent because there was something she wasn't telling him. "Wyvern…what is it?"

"…Joe…" Wyvern said rather distantly.

"Yes?" Joe said, slightly impatient to find out what Wyvern had been hiding.

"When we battled Masquerade, I sensed…I sensed negative energy pulsing from him." Wyvern said, sounding as if she was just as confused about it as Joe was.

"_What_?" Joe stood up from his bed and almost tripped from the sudden movement. "Masquerade has…negative energy? Meaning he has the Silent core?" Joe intertwined his fingers into his hair, making it look like he was going to pull it out, in the moment's excitement.

"Well, yes, but the pulse of energy is very faint, I could barely catch it, so I was thinking…that maybe the core made Masquerade more powerful and strategic as a brawler, maybe the core is the thing that makes him better. Maybe he joined up with Naga because Naga promised him power and gave him some of the core. It would explain both the reason he works for Naga and the negative energy I sensed coming off of him." Wyvern explained, somewhat impressed by her own self.

"Wow!" Joe looked at Wyvern in admiration, "We just met Masquerade this afternoon but already you've come up with this great theory!" Joe smiled at Wyvern, happy that she didn't mind his weakness and could explain the reason for Masquerade being such a freaky good brawler.

"I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier…" Wyvern apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Wyvern," Joe returned to sitting on the edge of his bed, "You must've been frightened that your brother would have gone to the lengths of putting parts of the core into humans." Joe tried to emphasize for Wyvern but found himself completely unable too. It's not like _he _had an evil twin, or anything like that.

"I just…I didn't know you could put the core inside a human! Not even the most powerful bakugan can completely handle _all_ of the core!" Wyvern felt as if she was way over her head, even though core energy _was_ her specialty. The ability Masquerade brawled with just wasn't human. And maybe they have just found the reason way.

Joe felt frightened as his mind thought up ideas that he almost felt ashamed of, but he still felt that he needed to share his thoughts with Wyvern. As partners they should, at least, be able to tell each other the truth. "Wyvern…if giving a small portion of the core to a human makes them a better brawler…" Joe trailed off hoping that Wyvern would get his point without him having to say it.

"Forget it." Wyvern said sternly.

Joe was surprised by this instant and firm response. He thought that Wyvern would have at least thought about it before she said no. "But—"

"I had a feeling you would ask me something of that nature…but the answer is no…I can't just lower myself to Naga's level." Wyvern explained. The core could completely absorb bakugan, why in the world would she even give a part of it to a human?

"Wyvern…as partners we need to try and help each other become stronger." Joe pointed out honestly, interested in what would happen.

Wyvern was surprised by this. It seemed a bit…sly for what Joe would normally say. For a second she felt like Joe was trying to use their relationship to get what he wanted, but she soon tried to purge that thought from her mind. But Joe wouldn't do something like that…would he? "Joe…I'm not sure. If anything bad happened I would be responsible."

Joe tilted his head slightly downward, his eyes peering through his spiky bangs at Wyvern. "Whatever happens, I'll only blame myself. I just can't let it continue like this, I can't let other bakugan suffer the same fate as mine." Wyvern was surprised even further when she saw a single tear run down Joe's pale cheek.

_I understand now, Joe,_ Wyvern thought as she sighed, _For a second there I thought you had become greedy…but now I see you just want to do this for other people…as you usually do…Oh, Joe, sometimes you're too nice for your own good…but I am the same way…_"Alright, then."

Joe's head snapped up to look at Wyvern through widened eyes, he quickly tried to wipe the small amounts of tears, hoping Wyvern did not see them.

Wyvern mentally sighed, _I'm still not fully sure about this but if I know you, Joe, it's that you always work so that everything ends up ok…so I'm counting on you…good luck…partner._

It was a lovely day at the park, many smileing faces danced around as their favorite day of the year had come. Because the city was very ethnically mixed, the city had a general 'beginning of spring' parade in which all spring related holidays were acknowledged. Just think of any spring holiday and there would be a float or two about it. These floats would mostly be made by the churches that had the respected holidays. And all the adults and children got the day off, so the park was always crowded with parents and kids, happy to be able to spend time with their usually busy parents. Masquerade knew that this was a great opportunity to gain new, foolish minions. In his mind he thought if the different kinds of minions he liked and how they worked in his 'system'.

There were the ignorants, which Masquerade liked best because they were very easy to recruit and ended up as 'yes men', and every boss needs to have a couple of yes men so that he feels like he's always doing the right thing.

Then there were the normals, meaning they had average intelligence. Masquerade liked these ones the least, though they were the most common, because they were smart enough to question your ' unique' actions but too dumb to do anything much useful. They didn't cause much trouble, though, if they did mentally question some of your actions, they wouldn't really say anything and would just follow the crowd. If they verbally questioned your actions, well…that was merely correctable. Masquerade usually tried not to put too many normal in one group, afraid that if there are too many of them, they can band together and influence the ignorants to start a rebellion.

The smarts could do lots of useful work…but they were a bit harder to convert—I mean…'recruit'…there was usually one smart in charge of a group of normal and ignorants. Smarts may question your actions but since they end up in the middle of command, they don't get much action.

And last but not least the brilliants, these were the most capable and smart minions. They were put in charge of the smarts, almost at the top of command…only below Masquerade himself. The brilliants are the most likely to question your actions but they're easy to keep in control since they have to obey to your direct orders. Like the saying goes, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. Masquerade made sure he was constantly aware of the brilliants, and he didn't trust a single one of them. Then again…Masquerade doesn't trust _anyone_, so there's really no use in saying that he doesn't trust a certain group of people.

But even though Masquerade was plunging his conscious mind with 'minion hunting' thoughts…he was secretly enjoying the beautiful day. Hey, bad guys can enjoy nice days once in a while, can't they? Well, Masquerade _was_ enjoying the wonderful day until he heard the voice that sounded like nails on a blackboard to his ears.

"Hey, Masquerade! What's your ugly mug doing around this park?" a familiar, annoying, conceited brunette came running toward Masquerade, his peeps following hesitantly behind him.

Masquerade tried to ignore him by turning around and walking away. He constantly chanted in his mind, _he's not worth the effort…he's not worth the effort…_, and it was working, too, until Dan caught up with him.

Dan pointed a finger at Masquerade, "Hey, trash like you shouldn't be allowed in the park!"

This was a little too much for Masquerade. He snapped around toward Dan's direction and said, ever so politely, "Why don't you say that again, Dan, I didn't quite catch you…" A murderous aura surrounded Masquerade.

Dan cupped his hands around his mouth, and though they were only eight feet away he yelled "I _said_, TRASH LIKE YOU SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED INSIDE THE PARK!" Dan just couldn't get a hint sometimes…

You could actually hear the _thump_ of Shun doing a face palm behind Dan. "Dan…he _heard_ you, he's just challenging your nerve…which is a bit stupid since everyone already knows you have too much nerve…"

Dan, having selective hearing only heard 'challenge', 'nerve', and 'stupid', "Like I said, trash like you shouldn't be allowed in the park." Dan repeated for the third time, still pointing his finger at Masquerade.

Masquerade just sighed, "You know, they say that if you point a finger at someone, three of your own fingers are pointing back at you."

Dan looked down at his hand and realized that Masquerade was right. His pinky, ring, and middle finger were all pointing at him. Dan quickly put his hand down, "Yeah, well…I still don't think you should be allowed in this park…"

"Oh yeah? And why should I be banned from this park?" Masquerade put one hand on his hip and leaned toward it. The stance he took when he thought he was winning an argument.

"Because…because you're a bad guy! You only came here to get more minions!" Dan protested.

"And?" Masquerade said matter-of-factly.

"And…you shouldn't be allowed here!" an anger mark (anime popped vessel mark) appeared on Dan's forehead as he rose his fist.

"My, my, I see someone here likes double standards…are you sexist, too, Dan?" Masquerade said calmly. Even though Runo couldn't pick out any anger in Masquerade's voice, it still made her shiver. It reminded her of the calm before the storm, and she started to worry about Dan's safety…

Dan was officially pissed off. Masquerade's face was serious and his voice calm, when he would usually use his teasing tone and smirk while saying this. Dan was more pissed off by the fact Masquerade said something so blunt off-handedly. His smirk always meant he was looking for manipulative entertainment. Dan hated thinking that Masquerade was actually serious when he said this. "Sorry…I didn't quite catch that…" Dan said with an angry, grin-and-bare-it smile.

"Selective hearing, much?" Masquerade said, with a smirk this time.

"Alright, _that's_ it!" Dan yelled as he rolled up one of his sleeves and started to come toward Masquerade.

Masquerade wasn't scared; this was what he was waiting for.

Shun sighed and grabbed both of Dan's arms, interlocking his elbows with Dan's. "He's not worth it, Dan." Shun didn't look at Dan when he said this but instead he gazed at Masquerade.

Masquerade noticed this but just shrugged it off, he didn't care about criticism. He _was_ a villain, after all. He turned around and started to slowly walk away.

"Shun! Let me go! Even you want to see that creep learn a lesson about justice." Dan struggled under Shun and broke free and tried to catch up with Masquerade.

Masquerade instantly stopped at the sound of the last word. He slowly and eerily turned around and looked at Dan. Dan wasn't exactly sure why, maybe it was the wind, but he stopped and shivered.

"Justice…huh?" Masquerade asked as Dan continued to stand still. "Is that what you think you are, Dan? Justice?"

Dan stayed silent, he never thought he would actually hear Masquerade say that word.

Masquerade rushed toward Dan and pushed him down, but caught him by the ends of his jacket's collar before his hit the ground.

Dan's eyes widened as he looked up at Masquerade's frowning face. The birds stopped singing, the children stopped laughing, and the wind stopped dead. Dan didn't know why but all he could hear was Masquerade voice, his mind quieted everything else.

"So, Dan, that's how you think it is…it's like a game, isn't it? And it's all about who _you_ think is right or wrong, isn't that right? And in this game, it's always the good guys who and the bad guys disappear." though Masquerade tried to make his voice calm, it seethed with utter murderous intent. Through the corner of Masquerade's eye he saw Shun take a step toward them. "And if one of your friend tries to help you, then they don't respect your manhood, or your ability to get out of trouble.

Hearing this, Shun took a step back, realizing that Masquerade was right. Dan had gotten himself into this mess and he should be the only one to try and get himself out of it.

"Well, guess what, _Dan_…this isn't a fucking game. Why can't you just go and your little games with other twelve-year-olds. Because you act as if this is fucking game…and that you're winning or that you're _going_ to win because you're 'in the right' or because you're 'just'… because you're _justice_. But what made you think they you can just _stroll in_ and point out what's right or wrong or who the bad guys are." Masquerade made a small, almost inaudible chuckle, but Dan who clearly see the movement of his shoulders, "You act as if there _is_ such a thing as justice. Well here's a question, where's _my_ justice?"

Dan really could think of nothing to say, he couldn't even think of moving as he watched take one hand off of his jacket Masquerade raise one of his fists above his head. It was as if Masquerade's words had chained Dan's body and rendered it helpless against the incoming attack.

"Well I'll tell you something…this isn't a stupid _game_, Dan…this is a little something called _real life_, and if you can't figure that out, then you should go back to school like a good little boy." Dan watched horrified as he saw Masquerade's fist come toward him…and stop a quarter of an inch away from his nose.

"Huh?" Dan said in surprise as he looked up at Masquerade's face…which was looking behind his shoulder. Apparently he had lost interest in Dan and was looking at something that must've held more importance. Dan was annoyed that Masquerade had lost interest in him mid-punch but was scared to re-attract his attention by trying to stand up. Instead he tried to focus on what Masquerade insisted on looking at.

_Why do I sense…positive energy? But it can't be Wyvern…it's not as strong as the entire infinity core_, Masquerade thought as he tried to focus in on the details of the black dot speeding toward him. Masquerade was so dumfounded by it that he even forgot he was holding Dan. (A/N: 'He forgot he was holding Dan'? Why does that sound like a line from a Dan x Masky fic? (which this is _not_, by the way. Sorry to disappoint you))

In a blink of an eye the 'black dot' had turned into a black-wearing person and had just slugged Masquerade in the face. As Masquerade flew and stumbled through the grass from the strength of this punch his first reaction was to hold on tight to his mask. He was glad it didn't fly completely off right in front of the brawlers…right in the middle of a public park…that would be very bad…

The former 'black dot' offered Dan a hand in standing up as Masquerade had let go of him when he was hit. As Dan looked up at his face, he became startled, the first thing his eyes met were this other person's eyes. And they were an intense amber that looked like burning gold, his pupils slightly slanted at the top and bottom like a cat's. His wild face was framed by medium-length, jet black hair, in a spiky pattern where the spike pointed downward and a little at the sides. If you looked further down you would notice the red collar hanging out at the bottom of his neck, just a plain red collar with a buckle. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt that seemed like a weird thing to wear on a bright, sunny day. He wore blackish-grey bootcut jeans and heavy duty black boots. Dan, in confusion, took his hand, which had a buckle bracelet matching his collar, and gave him a smile as a 'thanks'. The black-wearing person smiled in returned then turned to regard Masquerade. He pointed a finger at the heap lying on the grass, "Hey you!" he shouted rather rudely. "I'm here to challenge you to a brawl!"

Masquerade grabbed the rest of the dignity he had left and pushed myself up. "Oh yeah? And just who the hell are you?"

A smirk, a small one-sided smile, crossed his untamed face, "I'm your _good_ twin."


	2. Welcome: Aiko

Though his mask was often the central attraction for Masquerade's teasing…Masquerade was very thankful for his mask as he felt his eyes widen. _My…good twin? He pulses with positive…this can't be good. Is this Wyvern's doing? This dude obviously said something like this because he understand we're…similar…wait…who's his host? Did Wyvern do this on purpose? What the hell is she planning? Wait, no, I'm just making myself worried, there's no way Wyvern would do this on purpose…and if he is like me and Hal-G then maybe Wyvern is forcing him to so things like attack me…maybe Wyvern _did_ do this to get even on the field with Naga. Wait, what am I saying? Even _I_ know that Wyvern wouldn't do that…so then he's obviously a mistake and his host is most likely Joe. Maybe Wyvern lost some control over the Infinity Core and it was Joe's bad luck that he was nearby when it happened. I wonder if anyone else was affected. This defiantly…complicates things._

"Hey, Masquerade!" the rude black-wearing boy called out, "Why ya standing there looking like a dumbass?"

Masquerade was annoyed by this comment but thought it would be better if he used this meeting to learn more the situation, "I was, you know, just thinking about how you got here."

"Wyvern brought me here." the black-wearing boy replied bluntly.

"Well, I figured _that_ much out, you reek of positive energy." when Masquerade said that he wasn't exactly sure if he should've said it, he was trying to be discreet while the brawlers were witnessing everything.

"Hey, you don't smell all that great, either," the black wearer shot back, "of course, we're not really talking about the sense of smell." the boy with the red collar winked.

"Well, duh." Masquerade crossed his arms in annoyance that he tried to portray as indifference.

"What's going on?" Julie asked among the grouped brawlers.

"It's like they're talking in their own langue…what do _you_ think, Shun? …Shun?" Runo looked at the silent ninja who was focusing on the strange pair.

"…What did he mean by Masquerade's 'good twin'? Are they actually related? They act as if they've just met." Shun observed in utter confusion.

"Yeah, you're right Shun, it _is_ very weird." Runo hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, well, let's just let the weirdoes figure it out and stay and watch." Dan said as he stretched both his arms behind his head, as if he was relaxing to watch the Saturday cartoons.

"Hey, look, at least tell me your name, you already know mine." Masquerade said in distaste, still curious about what this dude was all about.

"Name's Aiko, but I'm not here to talk!" Aiko pointed dramatically at Masquerade.

All Masquerade could think was_…poser…_ "Alright then, _Aiko_," _Does this guy have no originality or something? That defiantly rhymes with 'Joe', though I wouldn't say this guy is anything like Joe_, "How long has it been since you first 'arrived' here anyways?"

Aiko scratched his head, "About…" Aiko make a funny 'thinking' face.

"Don't strain yourself." Masquerade teased with a mischievous smirk.

Aiko ignored the last comment, "I think it was about 30 minutes ago."

Masquerade burst out and almost started rolling on the ground, laughing.

Anger crossed Aiko's face, "Well, yeah? So what? I'm still going to kick your butt!"

But Masquerade continued to laugh, one arm laid over his moving stomach and the other stabilized him by placing itself on his bent knee, "You mean Wyvern sent you to battle me and you've only been here for _thirty minutes_?"

"Yeah, well…how long have _you_ been here?" Aiko lifted his fist in annoyance.

"For about a year." Masquerade answered as he crossed his arms. Aiko searched Masquerade up and down with his intense eyes, their eyes met and Masquerade could tell he was looking for a fight…but Masquerade didn't exactly want that. "Alright, then, how about one more question?"

Aiko put a hand on his hip and sighed while rolling his eyes, this practically made Masquerade want to wring his neck and dispose of his body on one of the clothes lines of the houses surrounding the park, "Fine, but make it quick."

"Why do you want to brawl me so much?"

"Because Wyvern is the one who brought me here and she said this was the reason why…to defeat you in a brawl."

"So you're just going to do what she says, like her little pet?"

Aiko's face tainted with red at this, "Oh! And _you're_ any better? Aren't you just doing things for the person who brought _you_ here, too?" Aiko pointed his finger at Masquerade.

"You know, you're rather quick to accuse for someone who's just come here." Masquerade quietly growled.

Aiko then saw a memory, that wasn't his, in his mind's eye.

* * *

><p>"It just doesn't any sense." Joe said to himself out loud as he updated the rankings on the bakugan website. "This guy, who is supposedly working for Naga, shows up out of nowhere and knocks Shun out of first place."<p>

Wyvern perked up at the mention of her brother's name. She rolled closer to the computer screen to confirm herself of this. She studied Masquerade's profile picture for a long time before saying, "It's just for show."

"Huh?" Joe questioned in surprise, "What do you mean 'just for show'? He's now the best brawler on earth!"

"Then I would imagine that a person like him would be of better use to Naga than just running after a bunch of school kids…he's just here to scare and intimidate people."

Joe made a gun figure with hand and rested his chin between his thumb and forefinger in a look of thoughtfulness, "I don't know, Wyvern…he seems a bit more serious than just for something to show off."

"No matter what Masquerade does here it will be done in the intention of striking fear into young brawlers. He's going to wave Masquerade around like a prize that he dumps on a shelf then forgets about latter, just for show. So there really isn't a happy ending for Masquerade, you needn't worry about such things, it just means Naga is getting impatient." Wyvern talked about it as if her brother was being a dumbass about using Masky…or at least that he was using Masquerade for dumbass reasons.

* * *

><p>Aiko decided to use this new information to use against Masquerade, "Naga…that lucky bastard, all he sees in you is as a stupid plastic medal that he'll just throw away later, as if you never existed. And yet you <em>still<em> insist on being his pet, bringing in the morning paper for him every day. You're just his purebred, over expensive, _lapdog_. And all you do is yip and bark at those who annoy you, waiting for his next orders to obey."

It was obvious that Masquerade was affected by this. Both his fists clenched and legs sread apart in a stance that made it look like he was going to run at Aiko any minute. "Oh yeah? Well, _you're_ the one wearing a collar! You think you can just stroll in here and say our worth? You've already explained that the only reason you're here is because Wyvern sent you here! You're just…you're just Wyvern's _kittypet_."

It was Aiko's turn to become angry, his amber eyes widened as wild instinct took over, "Alright, _that's it_." Aiko rushed toward Masquerade.

"I couldn't agree more." Masquerade said, trying to cover up his utter anger in a tone of calm as he ran to meet Aiko in a collision.

when they met both of their hands met, fingers interlocked. Their heels dug into the dirt as they performed an opposite version of tug-o-war. The obvious object was to push the other into the ground using your strength. After a while of pushing against each other, their upper bodies started to lean closer and closer together as their feet struggled to keep up with each other as they drifted further and further away. In the spur of the moment their foreheads collided making each other slightly dizzy, their digging feet in a frenzy.

"_Lapdog_!" Aiko growled the insult.

"_Kittypet_!" Masquerade growled in equal ferocity.

Both knew that this was going nowhere any time soon. So both tried to knee each other in the stomach…which just resulted in their knees hitting each other. They staggered away from each other as they grabbed at their now-throbbing knees.

_What the heck?_ Shun thought, _Are they purposely copying each other?...Is that even possible? This is getting weirder by the minute_.

_I'm sure glad that I wasn't the one who would end up fighting Masquerade…this dude is ruthless!_ Dan thought in a mixture of relief and panic.

Masquerade thought about hitting him in the face with his right fist…but Aiko was thinking the same thing. Their fists met knuckle to knuckle. Masquerade realized that he was only going to win this battle if he did something unexpected. Masquerade lowered his head to ram into Aiko's torso.

Aiko saw this movement of Masquerade's head and in one swift, fluid motion he had jumped backwards a respectable distance, landing in a strange crouching pose. His bent, spread apart knees balanced on the balls of his feet as he placed his hands on the ground to stabilize himself, arms straight. It was like how a small child would crouch if one were playing leap frog. But this wasn't a game.

Masquerade decided to rush into Aiko, fist raised, but intending to kick him instead, because he was lowered to the ground, and using his fist as a bluff to fool Aiko. But Masquerade didn't expect what Aiko would do next.

Aiko, preparing himself for Masquerade's attack tensed his legs. And as Masquerade had reached him, he sprung to life.

Masquerade was surprised as he watched Aiko, in mid-air, grabbed both of Masquerade's shoulders to perform a flip over Masquerade. Spinning on a dime, using the balls of his left foot, as he landed. Masquerade sensed that Aiko was about to punch him from behind so he slightly bent his knees to evade it. He felt the punch hit his hair, but not his head. Masquerade spun toward Aiko using one leg and trying to sweep Aiko off his feet with the other.

Aiko lost balance at the unexpected move. Masquerade straightened his knees as he completed the spin toward Aiko direction. Aiko, now on his back, felt a little panic as he couldn't predict Masquerade's next move. Yet Masquerade's next move became rather clear as Masquerade lifted his foot over Aiko's stomach. Aiko rolled to his side, just in time, to see Masquerade's foot stomp the ground…not his belly. Aiko raised his bent legs in toward his stomach and flexing his spine while using the momentum of his swinging legs, managed to quickly stand up.

Masquerade and Aiko swiftly turned to each other, the glint in Aiko's eyes meeting the stare of Masquerade's cold, emotionless mask.

"Aiko? …Aiko? Aiko?" a low, female voice called out from the tall grass of the park.

Both of the…'twins'…turned toward the voice.

A small, white and pink ball rolled out from the tall grass onto the park path.

"Oh, hi Wyvern!" Aiko greeted with a insignificant wave of his hand.

Wyvern, seeing Aiko already with Masquerade, panicked, "Aiko! What are you doing here?"

"I'm brawling Masquerade." Aiko said rather blankly, as if it was part of his job.

"Aiko…I meant _bakugan_ brawl…not physically fighting…" Wyvern said with a rather disappointed sigh.

"…and how do you brawl?" Aiko asked in confusion.

Masquerade's eyes widened behind his mask as he laughed loudly, meaning to insult and embarrass Wyvern or Aiko, "You mean you sent this dimwit here to defeat me…_and doesn't even know how to BRAWL_?" Masquerade laughed his chilling, cold, cruel laugh.

Aiko's cheeks filled with color, "Hey, I was kicking you butt just about now!"

"Whatever," Masquerade discarded the comment Aiko made, "I don't need to waste my time here anymore." Masquerade took a strange, shining card out of his pocket. "See ya, kittpet." Masquerade then disappeared in a flash of multicolored light.

Aiko just stood there for a moment, unable to think of what to say…then he picked up Wyvern and looked at her at eyelevel, "How'd he do that? Was that just physically possible? Aiko asked in amazement, not having _all_ of Joe's memories.

"What do you mean, you can't brawl?" Wyvern said in utter disbelief.

"I don't really know what it is…"

The brawlers walked up to Aiko. Surprised to see Wyvern there and rather confused on the entire situation.

"Why did you just run out like that? It took me forever to catch up!" Wyvern asked in distress.

"I'm sorry; I knew where Masquerade was so I got excited." Aiko explained, trying to sound innocent.

"Wyvern could you please enlighten us?" Shun asked politely.

"Ummm, well you see," Wyvern felt lucky that she had thought of this while she was running, or 'rolling', after Aiko, "Joe's in the hospital right now so I agreed to look after his cousin, who'll be my partner for a while."

"Now that you mention…his face looks a bit like Joe's." Shun said, accepting the lie, "I hope Joe gets out of the hospital soon."

"Thank you, Shun." Wyvern was more thankful, though, that the smartest of the brawlers hadn't seen through her 'cover-up' story.

"He even has the same haircut as Joe!" Julie giggled and then leaned toward Runo, "He's kind of cute, too."

Runo looked at her as if she was crazy, crossing her arms she said, "Um, yeah, but he has such weird eyes. And I feel like he should be on a leash whenever I look at his collar."

Wyvern thought back and wondered about how this could've happened.

* * *

><p>As a small, glowing orb drifted from Wyvern to Joe, Wyvern felt as if something bad was about to happen. Joe reached out his hand to touch it, only a small scrap of hesitation left. As the miniature orb, which was only the seize of Joe's fist, touched Joe's first finger, a sharp, sudden flash washed out the entire room. When the flash had subsided Wyvern looked down from the computer desk to see, what looked like, Joe collapsed on the floor. "Joe!" Wyvern cried out in horror.<p>

Joe quietly got up and brushed his pants off, but Wyvern quickly saw that this wasn't Joe because his hair was pitch black. 'Joe' looked over at Wyvern with strange and questioning eyes, making Wyvern speechless as she realized that she had done something truly horrible to Joe. 'Joe' reached toward Wyvern's direction.

Wyvern held her breath. She soon realized that he was reaching toward the drawer beneath her.

'Joe' opened the drawer, revealing Joe's stash of lollipops that he kept in his bedroom to help with his blood sugar problems. 'Joe' took the closest one and then jumped onto the bed, laying in a reclining pose that Wyvern had never seen before. 'Joe's' head laid on the hands he put behind his head. One knee was bent upward as the other leg seemed to 'fall' off the bed; his eyes were closed as he sucked on the lollipop inside his mouth. Wyvern now noticed that 'Joe' was wearing different clothing, all black with red collar and two matching bracelets.

"Ummm…Joe?" Wyvern said in concern.

'Joe' lazily half-opened his left eye to peer at Wyvern. He took out one of his hands from under his head to temporarily take to lollipop out, "Uh…I'm not Joe." he said in a voice that was lower and rougher than Joe's sounded.

"Then…who are you?" Wyvern tried to stay calm.

"I'm Aiko." Aiko sat up in the bed to look at Wyvern, "You may now stop staring at me, Wyvern."

Wyvern couldn't figure out rather or not it was Joe. Joe would've known her name and where he kept the lollipops. But Joe would have defiantly not started to eat a lollipop without having low blood sugar, he kept them for emergencies. Or regard Wyvern in a non-caring way.

Aiko, seeing Wyvern's constant silence, decided to get to the point, "Why am I here?"

All Wyvern could think of to say was, "Huh?"

Aiko sighed, "You brought me here, right?"

"Um, yes, well…I guess" Wyvern was much too stunned to think of anything intelligent to say.

"Why did you bring me here?" Aiko said with a face that almost looked sad, which contradicted with his bright eyes.

"Oh, uh, I didn't really mean to…I was just trying to help my partner, Joe. He kept saying he needed to become stronger…but that didn't really happen."

Aiko looked at her with a puzzled look, "Why did he need to become stronger?"

"He said he really needed to defeat Masquerade." Wyvern admitted in distraught.

"Masquerade?" Aiko asked with an eyebrow raised in interest. "You know giving humans part of the core isn't going to help them defeat some person."

"Well, I know that _now_," Wyvern said with a hint of annoyance in her tone, "but I just thought that it would help Joe because it didn't seem to be a coincidence that the ranked one brawler had core energy in him."

At this Aiko's other eyebrow rose to meet the other, "He's the guy with negative energy?"

"Well, yes, but how did you know—" Wyvern cut her sentence off as she saw that Aiko had crouched down, in that leap frog pose, on the windowsill of the open window. "Wait! Aiko! The door's over there!"

But her words fell upon deaf ears as Aiko jumped from the window to a branch of the tree in the front yard, which he then climbed down, and ran toward the pulse of negative energy.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Guys!" the group hear a soft, feminine call out for them. The group turned to see a redhead come toward them, waving one arm to get their attention.<p>

"Alice!" Runo scolded with her hands on her hips, "You're, like, an hour late!" Runo exaggerated.

"You missed the most amazing thing!" Julie jumped up and down in excitement.

"What do you mean? I can't imagine anything terribly exciting happening at the spring feasible." Alice, finally caught up with the group, was disappointed that she may've missed something.

"Masquerade was picking on random kids—" Dan started explaining.

Shun coughed, "And Dan," he muttered softly before fake coughing again.

"—But then, out of nowhere, a random person came and punched Masquerade and sent him flying!" Dan rose his arms up in 'victory', "Oh, and that random person just happens to Joe's cousin. And has been standing here this whole time."

Alice turned to Aiko, "Oh! Hello."

Aiko rolled his eyes, "Well, thanks for noticing."

Alice laughed as she has thought of something like that when the brawlers would only notice her absence when she would show up late. "But…what happened to Joe?"

"He's in the hospital." Dan pointed out.

Alice placed both of her hands on her cheeks in concern, "Oh no! I hope he'll be alright!"

"I bet he'll be alright…" Wyvern lied from Aiko shoulder. Wyvern didn't know whether or not Joe was gone forever…replaced by this changed version of him. Wyvern didn't want to think about it like that, so she lied to herself.

_I'll have to make Joe a get well card! _Alice felt pity for Joe because of his history of hospitalization and thought about what exactly the card for him should say. She went with something along the lines of 'Try to get well soon so that you can hang out with me and the other brawlers, again!'.

_I feel bad for rolling my eyes at her now. She seems really nice…I kinda like her._ Aiko thought as he smiled at Alice.

* * *

><p>The sun was about to set, painting the rooftops of the city bright oranges as Masquerade stood on top of an abandoned warehouse. A slight breeze ended the final, beautiful note to the melody of a wonderful day. But as Masquerade stood there, deep in thought, he didn't really think it was all that wonderful of a day. Sure, the weather was nice, but Masquerade couldn't help but feel a sense of doom. <em>This…complicates things<em>. Masquerade couldn't let up in sending bakugan to the doom dimension or else Naga would…he would…Masquerade shook his head, not wanting to think of such things. Ultimately it was Naga's conscious mind that kept Masquerade's being in its current shape and prevented it from turning into the glob of core energy it really was. If Naga wanted Masquerade to cease existing…he would get his way.

As Masquerade stared into the luminous orb slowly lowering itself beneath the unique skyline of the city he realized that he really _was_ Naga's lapdog. But it wasn't like he could help it…that was the way things were. _I wonder of Aiko attacked me against his will_. Masquerade thought about Aiko and his situation with Wyvern. _I could hardly see Wyvern as the controlling type, she probably just misses Joe._

Just then Masquerade developed an idea more brilliant than setting sun. _If me and Aiko are in similar situations…he can be of use to me_. As Masquerade thought back to the personal research he had done in Hal-G's lab he couldn't help but to roar in ironic laughter. The last rays of the colored sun left Masquerade's face as his dark chuckles filled the empty, starless sky.


End file.
